Alejandro Lucio, CEO of Óptima Consultores: “It is undebatable that electricity prices in recent years in Colombia, as in many other regions in the world, have presented an unexpected spike due to inflationary conditions post-pandemic, the rise in gas and fuel prices, as well as other factors. In Colombia’s case, most of the increase comes from a mix of tariffs being indexed to the producer price index and the ‘repayment’ of the so called ‘opción tarifaria,’ a mechanism implemented during the last government, during the pandemic, which allowed end users to defer payments during those critical months. Despite those being the main factors of the tariff increases, Petro maintains an anti-market approach, insisting that the main reason for the rise in electricity prices is the market design and the uncontrolled, unethical and capitalist-driven behavior of market players, especially generators. While that approach is legitimate, Petro’s efforts at lowering electricity tariffs will…”